Friday, March 31, 2006

The river Seine is about to overflow


Traditionally towards the end of March, the water level of the river Seine starts rising. Well, it is happening right now as you can see in this shot. Passers by can still walk down the embankment, but at their own risk of being splashed! Pretty soon they are also going to close the road where they had the Paris Plage event last summer, if you remember.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Where can I find this charming little village?


This won't probably look funny to you if you don't speak French, but if you do, you will probably burst out laughing. This ad that runs in the Metro at the moment promotes a Web site that is well known for selling train tickets. Now this site also sells plane tickets, but fewer people know it. What you see here is a typical sign you can find at the entrance of French villages. Except that here, the name looks typically French, but when you pronounce it, it sounds like... Los Angeles!

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Paris cars slaughter!


If you come to Paris these days you will come across a lot of these street signs. The whole city is being transformed in order to reduce the traffic and discourage people from using their car. Sidewalks are being widened, bus lanes are being built and widened too, trees are being planted and a tram is being built around Paris. Needless to say that car drivers (only 50% of the Parisians) are furious while pedestrians are pretty satisfied...


Appel à témoins ! Tous les jours à 9 heures 30 GMT la chaîne de télévision Direct 8 interviewe par webcam interposée des francophones situés à travers le monde. Contactez Elodie qui vous en dira plus et tenez-moi au courant, que je vous regarde...

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Eppur' si muove...


I spent more than 40 years in Paris but I had never been into the Panthéon. Last Saturday I did and discovered many beautiful things including this fantastic Foucault's Pendulum - named after the French physicist Léon Foucault - which was originally installed there in 1851 as an experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the earth. Stunning.

Monday, March 27, 2006

When Corneille goes shopping...


Here is another victim of Paris demonstrations! But this time it's pretty funny. It's actually a statue of Pierre Corneille - a famous French tragedy writer - located not far from La Sorbonne university on which the students put a shopping cart. A bit silly, of course, but no dammage nor harm made. Update: Ham, from London Daily Photo just reminded me that it could also be... art.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Daffodils help cancer research


Today, in front of the Pantheon (5th arrondissement) Parisians could, for 2 euros, pick up one of the 60 000 daffodils that had been "planted" in support of the Institut Curie in the fight against cancer. Alternatively, it is also possible to pick a daffodil on the web. So that no one can use the excuse of the rain!

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Another monument: the baguette!


Why on earth are all these people queuing at La fournée d'Augustine, 96, rue Raymond Losserand, 14th arrondissement) ? Well, simply because Pierre Thilloux, the baker, won the best baguette award for 2004. And believe me, I tasted it (it's on my way back home from the office), the guy really deserves his prize. Mind you I did not try the most recent winner (Jean-Pierre Cohier – 270, rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 8th arrondissement) nor the one of last year (Eric Sana, 3 rue du retrait, 20th arrondissement). Who knows, they might even have better bread...

Friday, March 24, 2006

Hello New York!


Yesterday I received an e-mail from a reader named Liz in New York saying "I discovered your blog a few weeks ago and was so blown away I have been telling everyone about it." And Liz did it so well that ParisDailyPhoto and LondonDailyPhoto were both mentioned in the Manhattan User's Guide. I remembered that we have our own New York Avenue here in Paris, so I thought it would make the perfect greeting photo for those New Yorkers who wound up here for the first time. Start spreading the news...

Thursday, March 23, 2006

What's left of Montparnasse


Between WW I and II, the Montparnasse area (14th arrondissement) used to be a hot spot for poets, intellectuals and artists to meet. Now, in my opinion, it has lost its soul and is barely worth a visit. If you go there, however, make sure you don't miss La rue de la Gaité where many theaters are to be seen, like Le théâtre Montparnasse that I photographed here and La rue Montparnasse where you can eat the best crepes of Paris (try Josselin first if you can find a table...).

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Pont Sully


As many of you know, right in the middle of Paris runs the river Seine that divides the city in half. To go from one side to the other there are more than 30 magnificent bridges (I've showed several on this blog already). This one, the Pont Sully (named after one of the ministers of King Henry IV) is one of the most recent bridges, although it was completed in 1876. It is located at the tip of île Saint Louis one of the oldest parts of Paris.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Paris Modern Art Museum just reopened


You all know Le Louvre Museum, especially with The DaVinci Code movie about to come out, but there are many more museums to visit in Paris (130 at last count!). One recently reopened: the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (Paris Modern Art Museum) and it is really worth the visit. The back of this museum (outside) is still under construction and that is where I took this photo. The graffiti is real graffiti and not part of the museum, but of course, I wouldn't tell the "artists" that.

Monday, March 20, 2006

A much less political demonstration...


If you love roller skating and if you come to Paris you should definitely consider joining the Sunday afternoon skate that will take you for a large tour in the streets of Paris. Up to 20 000 people can take part in it - you can imagine what effect it has on the traffic! - and it is really fun. If you are the sportive type you might as well join the Friday evening ride which is based on the same principle only ten times faster!

Sunday, March 19, 2006

One more demonstration post!


You might have seen it on the news today we had another demonstration in Paris today - and apparently a couple of riots towards the end of the march. I could not help going there and take pictures for PDP... Here is a mosaic but you can see them in more detail on the "making of".

Saturday, March 18, 2006

When Paris sleeps


Yesterday evening I had dinner at some friends who live in the 19th arrondissement, on top of the Butte Chaumont. The first thing I did when I arrived to their apartment was to take a picture from their balcony! Here is what it looked like. I thought we could do with a quiet photo after this busy and pretty violent week. By the way, these friends have started a (good) coffee business on the Internet. I thought I would give them a hand with their promotion... have a look!

Friday, March 17, 2006

I almost got killed after I took this one!


Of course I am extremely pleased to greet Venice, Kuala Lumpur, Notre-Dame-de-Bondeville and Bazainville in our Daily photo blog family but, frankly there is only one place on earth where there is all the fun at the moment, it's Paris! I took this shot today in the rue de Rennes (6th arrondissement), especially for you. It shows one of the - many - student demonstrations that took place today. (I sound a bit ironic but providing things are getting a little tense now, I should probably be more serious about all this now...).

(PS: if you're interested in this scene click here, you will see 3 other photos (2 before and 1 after this shot)

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Beret, baguette, demonstrations... good old traditions


Who said that the average Frenchman does not wear a beret and eat baguette anymore? Here is a pic I took on Place de la Sorbonne (same spot as yesterday's picture) of a student waiting for the demonstration to start. Thought you'd like it...

PS: problems with blogger. A lot of you are reporting poblems accessing PDP or posting comments. I am sorry for that, it should not last too long but if you want to know more, please visit this.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

May '68 is back!


You heard about new riots in Paris right? This time no burned cars in the suburbs, but a much more classic student protest against a new law that the government passed - too difficult to explain here. I took this photo in front of the Sorbonne University yesterday on my way home. It is hard to translate, but it reminds me of the slogan that could be seen in May 1968 (although I was too young to actually remember!). This one is a cute little rhyming slogan to protest the CRS police intervention at the university. Roughly translated it says, "Less Police, more petting (or caressing)"!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

The design school that Philippe Starck attended...


This beautiful door belongs to the Ecole Camondo, an interior and product design school - and also an Art deco museum, that you can find on 266 Boulevard Raspail (14th arrondissement). The school building in itself is a modern building (conceived by Cuno Brullmann who also participated in the Pompidou Center) but it is surrounded by these old walls... On top of this door it says "entrance to the workshop".

Monday, March 13, 2006

Ice skating in the middle of Paris


In front of the Paris Town Hall (Hotel de Ville) they not only installed "bobsled tracks" for kids like I showed you earlier in February but also, a free ice rink. Although it is freezing cold these days in Paris they still have to freeze it artificially.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Resting day!


I don't know how many times in your life you received love messages from tens of people around the world but, for me, it was a premiere... And let me tell you it feels good (Ham, from LondonDailyPhoto just warned me it could be very addictive...) ! Needless to say that I am very grateful to you all and to all the other daily photo bloggers for posting a Paris (or France) related photo. Thank you again and, since someone suggested in the comments yesterday that I should take a day off, well I do! That means no caption to go along with this shot!

Saturday, March 11, 2006

365 photos so far and many more to come...


I was not going to celebrate PDP's birthday without a birthday cake was I? So here it is: a tarte Tatin (famous French desert) just out of the oven with one candle on it. I took it tonight while I was having dinner at my friend's Jerome who has this wonderful view on the Sacré Coeur (hard to see in the background this time!). I have had a wonderful time posting these pictures for one year and I surely will continue another 365 days... But most of all I really would like to thank you all for your stimulating comments that I enjoy reading everyday.

PS: PDP has already received anniversary "gifts", have a look!

Friday, March 10, 2006

A beautiful Laundrette


I would have never thought yesterday's photo would have triggered that many comments! I regret not to have had the time to add mine, but I will try to. Anyway, after seeing a photo on Bob's BarcelonaDailyPhoto with people's laundry hanging out of the window, I thought I'd show you the Parisian version. Here, there is no washer or dryer facilities in the basement of buildings like in the States and it's totally prohibited to let your laundry hang out of the window. You either have to fit your appliances in the bathroom - or the kitchen - or take your dirty laundry to the lavomat (or laundrymat) like this one.

ParisDailyPhoto 1 year anniversary minus 1 day!

Thursday, March 09, 2006

2 cafés s'il vous plaît (Two coffees please)


Don't even ask how stupid I looked standing on top of a chair to take this photo in the middle of a café, but it was worth it. Just the right moment, after coming in from the cold and relaxing over hot coffee. I left the bill in the frame, so that you could see in this neighborhood, the price was 5.20 euros. I paid the exact same price the day before at Starbucks'!

ParisDailyPhoto 1 year anniversary minus 2 days!

Put this photo on a card, mug, t-shirt, bag and more here!

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Round and 'round we go


Who doesn't love a carousel or merry-go-round? I took this photo in front of the Hôtel de Ville where even if it was freezing cold, children and their parents were waiting in line to ride the animals. I'm not sure that this carousel is very old, but no trip to Paris would be complete without a stroll by. If you'd like to see some very old merry-go-rounds, pay a visit to the Musée des Arts Forains where you can see all kinds of old amusement park attractions from the 19th century.

ParisDailyPhoto 1 year anniversary minus 3 days!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Wandering further in Le Marais


Not far from where I took yesterday's photo, I came across these three gentlemen on their way to Agudath Hakehilot, an orthodox synagogue designed by Hector Guimard (the same architect who designed the Paris Metro entrances). Jews have called the Marais (swamp in English), or Pletzl (little place in Yiddish), their home since at least the 13th century. To learn more, you can check out the book, The Complete Jewish guide to France.

ParisDailyPhoto 1 year anniversary minus 4 days!

Monday, March 06, 2006

Yiddish Boulangerie


I came across this boulangerie (baker) in the Marais and had to share it with you. Florence Finkelsztajn owns this establishment, which is a cross between a caterer, bakery, and a pastry shop. Seeing the mosaic facade from the 1930's is worth the trip alone. I didn't have a chance to try the central European and Russian delicacies, but that will give me another reason to go back.

ParisDailyPhoto 1 year anniversary minus 5 days!

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Chair Necessities


Yesterday, I was having a coffee with a friend when she got up to use the toilettes . While she was away, this empty chair just beckoned me to take its photo, which I obliged immediately. Sometimes the simplest things make the best photos.

ParisDailyPhoto 1 year anniversary minus 6 days!

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Nuclear rain


I always admire people who feel so strongly about their beliefs that they will do anything to alert the world. This is probably the case with this lady that I photographed yesterday morning on a rain-soaked Boulevard Saint Germain (6th arrondissement). She's an anti-nuke protester and the message on the banner shows a quote from the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 8 July 1996. It's funny but I just found out Ham from LondonDailyPhoto has another group of strong believers on his side of the Channel.

ParisDailyPhoto 1 year anniversary minus 7 days!

Friday, March 03, 2006

What is it that you want with your camera?


For the first time in my life (well, my father tells me he took me there when I was very little but I don't remember...) I went to the Salon de l'Agriculture (the International Agricultural Show) that takes place every year in Paris. It is often called "the largest farm in the world" for it uses up to 30 000 square meters (322 917 square feet) and shows absolutely everything that is farm related: animals, dairy products, fruit, etc. Just love it!

ParisDailyPhoto 1 year anniversary minus 8 days!

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Last snow before spring?


Do you remember this photo? Well, here is another one of the same rails for the tramway that is currently under construction in the south of Paris. I took this shot from practically the same location as the previous one yesterday morning just after the snow. I wish I had my skis with me! To see what this Tramway will look like when it's completed (end of 2006), you must definitely click here for a cool video.

ParisDailyPhoto 1 year anniversary minus 9 days!

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Bill Poster (Affichage sauvage)


Although bill posters are illegal in Paris, it is pretty usual that a lot of "freelancers" promote their skills in the middle of the street. This English teacher used a pipe in the middle of Le Marais. I did it once, a long time ago, to sell two extra tickets to a concert! It did not work...

ParisDailyPhoto 1 year anniversary minus 10 days!